


Immortal Souls

by Corvina_of_Olympus



Series: We are all made of Stardust [2]
Category: Aldnoah.Zero (Anime), His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Angst with a Happy Ending, Even though he doesn't know the rules of social interaction, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Inaho tries to fix everything, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-24
Updated: 2016-01-24
Packaged: 2018-05-16 01:58:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5809015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corvina_of_Olympus/pseuds/Corvina_of_Olympus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inaho and Dariel realise that Slaine Troyard and his dæmon won't leave their minds. He is their responsibility, but there might be more about it...</p><p>(Another part of the dæmon AU, this time from Inaho's POV.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Immortal Souls

**Author's Note:**

> Finally, here it is: Inaho's and Dariel's sight of the events! I really enjoyed writing it, so I hope you like it, too! I have to confess that I'm totally in love with this AU, so this might not be the last you hear of me...  
> Enjoy reading! :)

According to most people, Kaizuka Inaho was a weird boy. He rarely spoke, rarely showed any emotions and even his dæmon rarely showed interest in anything. Dariel didn’t change forms as often as other children’s dæmons did, and that was strange enough. Weirder than that was only the fact that she settled when they were nine years old.  
Dæmons usually settled during puberty, a fact most people interpreted as a sign of maturing and reaching adulthood. 

Inaho stood out like a sore thumb. His sister always defended him by saying that he was simply mature for his age.  
However, this didn’t stop his peers from cornering him while their dæmons changed from eagles to leopards to colourful peacocks just to spite him. They usually left him alone pretty quickly, though, because his and Dariel’s lack of reaction scared them. 

Inaho understood that a settled dæmon at his age was very unusual, but it didn’t bother him. Dariel had never taken as much pleasure from changing forms like the other children’s dæmons did, so she wasn’t bothered by having settled, either. 

Inaho was happy with her form. He knew that other people were bothered by how emotionless he seemed to be, but it had its benefits. Dariel settling as a bird helped in that matter because most people and their dæmons weren’t able to read his emotions by looking at Dariel. Bird dæmons were hard to read. 

Even though they never talked to each other in public Inaho and Dariel were really close. They shared their opinion on people in private. 

This never changed until the Second Interplanetary War broke out.  
~~~

Princess Asseylum’s dæmon was the first one besides Inaho to get a word out of Dariel. The two birds soared through the sky while he and the princess watched the sea and the gulls.  
Dariel later informed him about the playful and friendly Celeph, but Inaho’s memory of that day is taken over by the late realisation that this was also the first moment he heard about Slaine Troyard, even though he didn’t know the other’s identity back then.

~~~

The first time they meet the Terran that has grown up on Vers they are sitting in the Sleipnir, Inaho in front of the controls and Dariel in the padded box behind his seat to ensure her safety. She immediately agrees with him on the idea to use the pilot and his Sky Carrier to defeat the foreign Aldnoah-powered Kataphrakt.

It is tragic that the skilled pilot they shot down back then actually turned out to become their enemy – because of their action.  
“A most regrettable decision” Dariel says, and Inaho agrees.

~~~

Inaho feels Dariel fidget on his shoulder the moment they see Slaine Troyard in his cell. He doesn’t blame her for showing her unease as he feels the same at the display in front of them. He has never seen a human and their dæmon look as pitiful and defeated like the war prisoner and his husky daemon sitting in their cell. He has read in Troyard’s file that the husky is called Voyasha and that she has shown clear signs of aggression upon arriving at the prison, but there seems to be nothing left of that. The dæmon lies in a corner and doesn’t move when she notices their arrival – if she even notices it. Voyasha doesn’t show any suspicion towards them; in fact she doesn’t show anything at all. But it isn’t like Dariel’s observant passivity and the latter notices this. It clearly makes her feel uncomfortable to see the dæmon of a broken man, because that’s what Slaine Troyard is.

Inaho thinks that both his and Dariel’s hearts stop when Troyard slowly lifts his head and smiles at them. The smile is false and sarcastic and it looks wrong on the blond’s face. 

He knows the answer to the other’s question before he even asks it.

 _No, I don’t want you to die._

~~~

Inaho puts many thought into the meals he brings to the prison. He reads up on the optimum nutrition and borrows all kinds of cookery books from Yuki who starts to think he has a girlfriend. Dariel snickers at that before she seemingly remembers how serious the situation is.

They are both overjoyed when they see that Slaine willingly eats the food they prepared for him. The husky dæmon shows first signs of recovery from her apathetic state. Dariel is pleased when Voyasha finally reacts to her approaches.

~~~

Slaine doesn’t trust them, but he gets better. He has started to participate in the chess matches and talks to him now. Inaho tries his best to conceal his feelings, but Dariel gives it away with her restlessness and newfound energy. She is as overjoyed at the fact that Voyasha interacts with her as Inaho is about Slaine’s progress. 

Voyasha wags her tail upon their arrival once, and Inaho thinks he knows what that means. Dariel and Slaine seem to know it, too, and Inaho can’t help but smile at how close they have become.  
Slaine smiles back, and it is the first honest smile he sees of him. It causes a strange feeling in his chest.

They start to call each other by their first name.

~~~

The event with the guard has left them both restless. The picture of a crying Slaine desperately hugging his dæmon has engraved itself into Inaho’s mind. Dariel seeks comfort from her own emotional turmoil by smoothing Inaho’s hair with her beak. They’re still in deep thought when they get in the car and Yuki (who was nice enough to drive them again) immediately notices.  
Yuki's dæmon Tosht nudges Dariel with her nose, and she lets the ocelot comfort her.

“Is there anything wrong with you?” Yuki asks in a worried tone and looks at him expectantly.  
Inaho stays silent for a few moments before he finally asks: “Why is touching someone’s dæmon such a taboo in our society? What consequence could it possibly have?”

His sister looks at him with a shocked and horrified expression before she realises that she should rather concentrate on driving. The car swerves a bit before Yuki regains the control over the vehicle.  
_“Nao-kun!_ Don’t tell me you want to try that!”

“I said nothing like that, Yuki-nee. I just asked a question.”

“You _implied_ it. As your sister, I’ll know when you plan something!” Yuki looks at the road and sighs.  
“Then again, I trust you enough to believe that you won’t actually do it…” She glances at him while her grip around the steering wheel tightens. “I’m actually surprised you don’t already know everything about it.”

Inaho’s shoulders twitch, resembling some kind of unintended shrug. No, he doesn’t know that much about human-dæmon relations because he never thought interpersonal actions to be relevant. Now it strikes him that this might have been fatal. 

His sister sighs again and seems to be struggling for the right words to explain it. “Well, because dæmons are a part of a human’s soul, touching them will reveal all of the hidden emotions and… basically the _essence_ of a person, you know? All the things you don’t want anyone to see except for maybe a person you really trust.” Her voice starts to waver a bit. “Touching someone’s dæmon without their consent is like rape. Some consider it to be worse.  
So no matter what you do, don’t…” She stops talking at that point, but Inaho understood what she meant.

“It’s okay. I won’t do it, Yuki-nee. I promise.”

Dariel turns her attention away from Tosht and flies onto her human’s lap. She trembles a little and obviously didn’t want the ocelot dæmon and by that also Yuki to notice their inner turmoil. Inaho caresses her shining black feathers and stares out of the window. The only thing on his mind is the sight of Slaine desperately clinging onto Voyasha.

~~~

Inaho realises he is in love. Dariel is unsure of what to do, and Inaho doesn’t know better and hugs her to his chest because they are both so confused and they don’t know how to help Slaine, either.

They both don’t believe in fate, but in their current state of mind they agree that the message about Slaine’s shortened sentence reaching them just on this day might just be that.

~~~

Inaho is nervous, but he and Dariel have discussed this several times and they agree that this is the best thing to do. Well, it might not be the best thing because it could go horribly wrong, but they want to trust Slaine and besides: how could he trust them if they didn’t trust him?

Inaho takes a deep breath before entering the cell. “Everything is planned. I’ll be fine” Dariel reassures him. Inaho nods and feels happy even through his uncertainty. At least the news will make Slaine happy.

~~~

Slaine accepts Dariel and as soon as they make contact Inaho’s knees want to give in. The feelings that flood him are indescribable and he starts shivering, but he doesn’t feel bad. Not at all. It’s warm and it’s just like he imagined it but at the same time it’s totally different.  
He knows that his soul is exposed now and that there is a chance of Slaine rejecting him for who he is, but that doesn’t matter right now because the feeling is so wonderful that Inaho doesn’t want it to end. Dariel doesn’t, either. 

~~~

Inaho doesn’t intend to force himself on Slaine and Voyasha just like he promised his sister, but he can’t stand the uncertainty and the waiting. What if Slaine doesn’t trust him? What if he doesn’t want him at all?  
Voyasha takes the decision upon her, though, and one day he finally gets to learn about Slaine’s soul. Looking into the other’s innermost emotions, he vows to himself to stay with him.

“I love you” he says and he thinks that this is the second time he truly reveals his soul to Slaine.

**Author's Note:**

> New dæmons that appear in this part:  
> -Asseylum Vers Allusia: Celeph (won't be revealed yet)  
> -Kaizuka Yuki: Tosht (ocelot, leopardis pardalis). I just felt like Yuki would have a feline dæmon. Cats are elegant and beautiful, but also lazy and stubborn. I chose the ocelot in particular because... well... okay, I'll be honest, it's because I like ocelots. And they are not much larger than housecats and I liked the thought of her dæmon curling up on the top of the radiator and... fine, I'll stop now ^^"


End file.
